库房 : Kufang : Storehouse

Location Guides:

Classifications:

Master Tung's Twelve Monkeys

Location:

On the chest, in the first intercostal space, 4 cun lateral to the midline (Huagai Ren-20), on the mamillary line.

Needling:

Transverse-oblique insertion laterally or medially along the intercostal space 0.5 - 0.8 cun, or transverse insertion superiorly or inferiorly along the channel

Warnings:

Deep or perpendicular insertion carries a substantial risk of puncturing the lung

Classical Needling:

"The Yangming usually has much Qi and much Blood" (Su Wen 素問 ch. 24) implying this channel can normally be needled or bled.
"The foot Yangming is to be pierced 6 fen deep and remain inserted for ten exhalations" (Ling Shu 靈樞 ch. 12).
"Locate it with (the patient) lying supine. It is needled to a depth of four fen and is moxaed with five cones" (Huangfu Mi 皇甫謐, 3rd Century, Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing 針灸甲乙經).

TCM Actions:

Descends rebellious Qi aand unbinds the chest

TCM Indications:

• Distension and fullness of the chest and lateral costal region, cough, coughing of pus and blood, dyspnoea.

Neuroanatomy:

Superficial Innervation: Cutaneous branches of thoracic nerves from T2

Dermatome Segment: T2

Martial Applications & Effects of Injury:

A hard strike this point causing an immediate sickly feeling in the whole chest area, quickly growing to full nausea (Montaigue, Dim Mak Locations, Taijiworld.com).

Major Combinations:

• Cough:
    Kufang St-14, Wuyi St-15 and Gaohuangshu Bl-43
    (Wang Zhizhong, 王執中, 1220: Zhen Jiu Zi Sheng Jing, 針灸資生經, Classic of Supporting Life with Acupuncture and Moxibustion).

Notes:

Tung's 12 Monkeys (Shi Er Hou) are a group of six points in two lines on each side just below the clavicle. The centre point is at the midline of the clavicle with a second 1.3 cun below it, approximately at the location of this point. Four more are located 1.5 cun to the left and right of each of these. They are indicated for scarlet fever, asthma, severe common cold, sudden turmoil and incessant diarrhoea (McCann, 2014, Pricking the Vessels).

Tung's prick to bleed method may be a safer method to employ over the lungs as it uses shallow insertion with no retention making the risk of pneumothorax smaller. It may also provide stronger stimulation to this relatively insensitive region.

The Stomach Shu are a proposed set of points that complement the Breast Shu. They are level with the Chest Shu and Front Mu points on the abdomen and receive the Blood and Ying Qi created through the action of the Spleen and Lung, via the Breast Shu, to distribute among the Zangfu. Whereas the Back Shu and Chest Shu deliver Yang and Yin Yuan Qi through the Bladder and Kidney Channels to the Zangfu, these points are focused specifically on postnatal Qi.

This point would be associated with the Lungs, with its indications being mainly for coughing and fullness of the chest.

Avicenna describes cupping at this point in his treatise On Cupping:

"If the tissue around the cup swells up and the cup is stuck and difficult to remove, then apply a piece of warm-to-hot wet cloth or sponge around the cup mouth first. This happens often when cupping around the breast to prevent menorrhagia or nosebleed; for this reason the cup should not be placed on the breast itself. Once the location of the cupping has been rubbed with oil, make the slit quickly, and place the cup genthy without excessive pressure so that it can be quickly removed the first time." (Aspects of Treatment According to General Diseases, 22nd section in Abu-Asab, Amri & Micozzi, 2013, Avicenna's Medicine)

Reference Notes:

Basic information on location, needle depth, TCM actions, indications and combinations is taken from Deadman et al (2001): A Manual of Acupuncture with additional anatomical information researched by reference to Gray's Anatomy (38th Ed., 1995) unless otherwise referenced. Images were found on acupunctureschoolonline.com and can be traced back to Claudia Focks (2008) Atlas of Acupuncture originally. I cannot claim any credit or rights over them. Other sources should be quoted in the text.

For some of the more unusual terms I have created a glossary here